Abstract
Temporal bone squamous cell carcinoma (TBSCC) is an uncommon, aggressive malignancy with a significant local recurrence rate even in patients with postoperative pathology reports of free surgical margins. This raises the question of how “free” negative margins should be to be oncologically safe, especially in bone tissue. A potential role for relaxin-2 hormone in tumor-driven osteolysis has recently been reported. The aim of this study was to assess the prognostic role of relaxin-2 expression in TBSCC tissue specimens and pathologically negative bone margins. Relaxin-2 immunohistochemical expression was assessed in 25 consecutively operated TBSCC patients. Several pathological variables correlated with recurrence rate (pT stage, dura mater involvement), disease-free survival (DFS) (pT stage, pN status, grade, and dura mater involvement), and disease-specific survival (DSS) (pT stage, pN status, grade, and dura mater involvement). The recurrence rate, DFS, and DSS did not correlate with relaxin-2 expression in TBSCC specimens or pathologically negative bone margins. Although local recurrence in TBSCC could relate to neoplastic bone invasion not apparent on conventional pathological investigations, the present preliminary findings seem to rule out any role of relaxin-2 in mediating this local aggressiveness. Molecular mechanisms of TBSCC recurrence after curative treatment should be further investigated.
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Acknowledgments
The authors are indebted to Vincenza Guzzardo, DIMED, University of Padova, Italy for her technical contribution to the histopathological analyses. They also thank Frances Coburn for correcting the English version of this paper.
This study was partly supported by Grant No. 60A07-8983/13 (A. Martini) and by Grant No. 60A07-1341/12 (G. Marioni) from the University of Padova, Italy.
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A. Mazzoni was formerly affiliated with ENT Unit, Ospedali Riuniti Bergamo, Bergamo, Italy.
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Marioni, G., Zanoletti, E., Lovato, A. et al. Relaxin-2 expression in temporal bone carcinoma. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 272, 3225–3232 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-014-3383-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-014-3383-x